Divine Emperor of Death

Davis frowned as he had no idea where they were going. There were many islands towards the west, considering that they had gone towards the east after entering the Hundred Devil Thunder Archipelago from the south.

Nevertheless, he wasn't planning on abandoning the chase just because they had headed out of the island, where it would become relatively easier for them to spot Nadia's concealment. He knew this would happen, and that's why he told her to gain distance beforehand.

He let them go far till they became a big dot in the skies before he urged, "Now, Nadia!"

Nadia soared above the seas as her dark wings flapped. She kept following them as she maintained this pace.

An hour, no, two hours passed this way as she pursued.

They shot past so many islands with the speed they were traveling, but they landed not on one of them. Davis became suspicious about where they were heading and began to plot a route in his mind before he wryly chuckled.

At this rate...

"We'll end up drifting ashore to one of the central islands of the Hundred Devil Thunder Archipelago..."

Davis's smile was a bit forced. The central islands were known to the Alstreim Family, but they remained uncharted for a reason. It was not that the magical beasts were strong, but the natural calamities and the natural formations formed by the complex surroundings over at the central islands were plentiful, able to kill or trap people there with a higher percentage. 

The death rate there was completely high that most Eighth Stage Experts chose not to step into the central islands. However, a few daring ones ended up overestimating themselves or had no choice but to traverse these regions to improve themselves. 

It was either do or die, just like those young elites who chose to see the vast world instead of cooping themselves up in their home, their safe zone.

'Perhaps, it is the same with Nora Alstreim's parents...'

Davis recalled that they died somewhere in the Hundred Devil Thunder Archipelago. Maybe they tried to search for better resources to help them improve but weren't these central islands lightning-based? Could it be that there was an island in the central region that appeared similar to the Purple Thunderflame Island, seething with lava?

However, didn't the Alstreim Family Experts train in Fire Laws? Or it might be that they came here to look for a way for them to increase their Soul Forging Cultivation with lightning-attributed resources.

'Tri-cultivation much...? Indeed, that's one way to become stronger if you stop or slowly making progress in your main cultivation system...'

Davis leisurely mused when suddenly the clouds became darker while an immense pressure started to descend on them. Lightning bolts pierced through the air as they began to strike the surroundings as they increased in density.

"Nadia, try to carefully traverse... It's the appearance of the hateful Lightning Sea..."

Nadia grunted as her dark wings flapped. A few seconds later, lightning began to fill the space while she began to dodge. However, her form was completely perfect as it looked as if she were dancing... as if she were one with the lightning sea.

Davis looked pleased with her prowess, but he knew that it wasn't simple. It didn't come without a cost. To maintain concealment and dodge with accuracy would take total concentration and her energy by a lot. He just hoped for the Lightning Sea to end sooner so that it wouldn't take much toll on her energy and soul.

Fortunately, the Lightning Sea didn't transform into a ninth stage one as it strangely disappeared before it happened. However, even before that happened, the flying boat changed routes and exited the Lightning Sea, causing Davis and Nadia to heave a sigh of relief as they followed.

Two and a half hours passed, making for a total of five hours since he left the Dark Thunder Island.

Above the sea where Davis and Nadia traversed at this moment, they saw that the lightning here was static, in a way that they didn't disappear after falling but seemed to remain as they swirled around like snakes. Long strands of lightning kept moving to and fro, but they did not seem to attack anyone in their sight but just move about as if seeming to mind their own business.

Perhaps, if Davis were to come into contact with these freely moving lightning bolts, he would be gravely injured because each of these strands was at the eighth stage, causing him to suck in a cold amount of breath that made his innards vibrate from the sheer might of the lightning bolts in the air.

'This is kinda like a natural formation that makes the lightning bolts stay instead of dissipating...?'

Davis looked around in wonder and amusement. It was extremely beautiful to look at, but the sheer danger it posed left his scalp tingling a bit from his instinctive reaction to danger.

Fortunately, these strands of lightning bolts were not densely packed, allowing the flying boat and them to traverse without facing much danger. Otherwise, he would've instantly abandoned the pursuit and returned. Besides, he also felt thankful to Nadia as she hadn't said anything about returning even after facing all these dangerous situations while traversing this far.

After all, he gave her his word to listen if she said otherwise. Without Nadia, he couldn't have come here this far, at least not without offending the group on the flying boat in some way.

If the group on the flying boat became hostile, Davis had a bit of confidence to kill the ninth stage demi-human since he felt that his soul should not be at the Ninth Stage. As for the magical beast woman, her soul was at the ninth stage.

To kill her, he mused that he would have to sacrifice maybe thirty to fifty percent of soul essence, which at this point would be almost equal to suicide since his soul hadn't completely healed. His soul had only recovered to seventy-two percent, but he didn't stop and healed his soul essence to seventy-eight percent while traversing in the Dark Thunder Island.

He didn't do it now because he was wary that he would be noticed. Presumably, this pure white healing power wouldn't go well with darkness concealment, becoming a blinding ray of light in the darkness. If he used it, he may as well as be shouting to them 'hey, I'm here!' like a fool.

Abruptly, Davis's eyes narrowed.

The sea of lightning thickened, causing the flying boat to slow down. Furthermore, the Lightning Elemental they followed constantly seemed to change directions, causing Davis and Nadia to not know in which direction they and the flying boat were heading towards in this confusing space. Sometimes, it was vertical; sometimes, it was horizontal. They seemed to dance along with the swirling lightning bolts to pass this sea region.

Even more, they were given the scare plenty of times as the Lightning Elemental headed in their direction instead, causing them to simultaneously retreat. However, they were unaware that they were heading in a straight line in truth no matter which direction they changed.

Yes, space here appeared to be distorted, but due to not having a dime of Space Law comprehension, neither Davis nor Nadia was able to tell the reason why the Lightning Elemental was behaving so erratic, leading them around or heading in their direction for seemingly no reason.

Fortunately, they somehow managed to not lose sight of them while trying their best to silently pursue. There were so many situations that they were almost found. Davis thought these strange people had an inkling that they were following them, but when they saw that their expressions remained the same, he couldn't help but think that they were still not caught.

They traveled for one hour in this region, and finally, he and Nadia saw a particular island in the distance, and their target of pursuits seem to be heading that way...?

'Is that island their destination...?'

Davis furrowed his brows in doubt but looking at them, not changing their directions, he felt that this was the destination unless they had to cross it to get to another island. He remained skeptical while Nadia simply continued to follow them while being concealed.

In a few minutes, they entered the island. It seemed to be common, looking pretty desolate as most islands present in the Hundred Devil Thunder Archipelago. The only difference was that the sky and the surface were covered with these stable and static snake-like lightning bolts that danced around. Furthermore, space here remained twisted as well, but it seemed normal to Davis and Nadia's inexperienced eyes.

So far, he hadn't sighted a single magical beast, but nevertheless, they were still in the outer region. There's no saying what they would meet on this island as they continue to traverse, so he instructed Nadia to proceed cautiously while he simultaneously maintained extreme vigilance.

As they traveled for another hour on this island, the flying boat finally seemed to stop right at the entrance to the island's core region. However, contrary to what Davis thought, the prowess of the lightning bolts here remained the same. They were still at the eighth stage, but the density was freaking over the top that it completely sealed the core region.

Right now, all of them were at the entrance to this core region, which appeared to be sealed by the overbearing lightning sea towards their front!

However...

'What are those strands of luminous green lightning swirling around in that lightning sea...?'